Up Mount Fløyen, slowly
The funicular up, the trail down — the easiest way to put the city in proper perspective.
Tied to Bergen
Mount Fløyen is not the highest of Bergen’s seven mountains, but it is the one that sits directly behind the city center, so it does the most work for a visitor. The Fløibanen funicular leaves from a station two blocks from Bryggen and takes seven minutes to reach the top. From there: forest trails in every direction, a café that does good coffee, and a viewpoint that puts the whole harbor at your feet.
What we plan to do
Take the funicular up. Walk back down via the marked trail (about 45 minutes, mostly downhill). If the weather holds and the group is properly shod, the Vidden plateau crosses to Mount Ulriken — the highest of the seven — with a cable car down the far side; but that is a real mountain hike, about 13 km and 4–6 hours across exposed high ground, not a stroll off the funicular. In anything but clear weather, the up-and-down-Fløyen version is the whole day.